45 Fascinating Facts about Ron Weasley
Note: This post contains spoilers for the entire Harry Potter series. If you have not read all of the books or watched all of the movies, you may want to stop reading now so you don’t spoil it for yourself!
Ron Weasley is obviously one of the most important characters in the magical world; he’s best friends with Harry Potter and critically important in Harry’s growth as a wizard and eventual defeat of Voldemort.
But how much do you really know about Ron? Turns out, there’s a lot more to Ron and his character than what’s told in the books or shown in the movies. If you’ve always been curious about Ron and want to learn more, you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve taken my nearly-encyclopedic knowledge and done a bit of extra research to come up with this list of facts about Ron Weasley. Below you’ll learn everything from Ron’s birth to his likes and dislikes, and what happens to him after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Here are 45 facts about Ron Weasley:
1. Ron Weasley was born during one of the most tumultuous times in the Wizarding World; he was born on March 1, 1980, right at the height of the First Wizarding War.
2. Arthur and Molly Weasley are Ron’s parents. I know this will be one of the least surprising facts about Ron Weasley if you’re already familiar with the saga, but this list is for Harry Potter newcomers as well!
3. Ron’s middle name is “Bilius,” and it isn’t a random pick. We all know J.K. Rowling didn’t take anything lightly when creating the saga’s fictional characters. Bilious means angry or bad-tempered, and, much as everyone loves Ron, we can’t deny that his temper (particularly in Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows) showed these traits. In the character’s world, his name had different motivations, though. Ron’s parents decided to name him Bilius after his uncle, who died twenty-four hours after having seen a Grim. This is one of my favorite Ron Weasley facts as it shows how much work Rowling put into crafting the characters.
4. Ron has a big family. He has six siblings; his five older brothers, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and his younger sister, Ginny. As we’ve seen in the movies and books, and even discussed in my podcast, being born in such a large family strongly impacted Ron’s personality, fears, and aspirations.
5. Ron is pureblood. Unlike his two best friends, Ron doesn’t have any muggle-borns in his lineage. In fact, the Weasley family is a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a document stating the twenty-eight British families having the purest bloodlines by the 1930s.
6. The Weasley family is deemed one the biggest “blood traitors” in the Wizarding World. Ron might be a pureblood, but he doesn’t make a big fuss out of it. To be honest, he (and all his family) never advocated the notion of blood purity and have happily welcomed Muggle-born wizards and witches into the Wizarding World.
7. When not at Hogwarts, Ron lives in the Burrow. Arguably the most charming house in all the Wizarding World, the Burrow is Ron’s family home. It sits on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England. He also had some cool neighbors, with the Lovegoods, Diggorys, and Fawcetts nearby.
8. Ron comes from a family of high-achievers. Since his first year at Hogwarts, Ron knew that he had to live to high expectations. And oh, boy, was he right. The Weasley brothers had amassed tons of achievements throughout their school life. Let’s take a quick look at them: Bill was both a Prefect and Head Boy during his time at Hogwarts, Charlie was Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Percy was appointed Prefect in his fifth year, and twins Fred and George are talented Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch (and are the two of the coolest students in Hogwarts).
9. Ron is well-acquainted with hand-me-downs. As if having a large family wasn’t enough, he’s the youngest of his five brothers. Needless to say, Ron hardly got anything new, from pets to wands; everything had already belonged to one of his brothers.
10. Ron has an aversion to saying Voldemort’s name. While Ron isn’t exactly famous for his fearless personality, few things scared him more than pronouncing the name of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” But hey, he had a reason! In the Deathly Hallows, we learn Ron was reluctant to say Voldemort’s name because it was cursed. This curse allowed the Death Eaters to know the person’s location by saying the name.
11. He does his best to overcome his fears, though. In fact, Ron says “Voldemort” three times in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
12. Ron finds out about Ginny and Harry after a Quidditch Cup – not some random kiss in the Room of Requirement. It is one of the most shocking Ron Weasley facts for people who’ve only watched the movies.
Before I get into the details, let me tell you something, the movie scene depicting Harry’s and Ginny’s first kiss doesn’t do justice at all to the scene from the book.
Back to our primary concern, in Half-Blood Prince, Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup, and everyone is celebrating in the common room. Showing the bold side we all love, Ginny runs through the room, throws her arms around Harry, and kisses him. Fifty people were witnessing the scene, among which was Ron.
13. Weasley (actually) is Our King. Here’s another fact that points out relevant differences between the book and movie. In the Half-Blood Prince movie, Ron excels in his role as Gryffindor’s keeper (can’t beat that placebo effect, right?). However, his moment of glory is reduced to a celebration in the champion’s tent in the movie, while in the book, they continue to sing the “Weasley Is Our King” chant for weeks.
14. He lives up to his own expectations – and those of his family. Much to everyone’s surprise, Ron becomes a prefect in his fifth year, completing the dynasty of Weasley boys as prefects.
15. Ron has a pet rat. While the Hogwarts letter clearly states, “Students may bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad,” Ron brings Scabbers, a rat which (unsurprisingly) was originally Percy’s pet.
16. Ron’s pet Scabbers wasn’t an ordinary rat. It turns out Scabbers wasn’t the tiny, defenseless rat we all thought he was. Instead, it was Peter Pettigrew (the wizard who betrayed James and Lily Potter) in his Animagus form.
17. Luckily Ron gets a new pet. After learning that his rat was Pettigrew, Ron is left without a pet. Sirius Black gives Ron a miniature scops owl, which Ginny names Pigwidgeon.
18. Ron didn’t complete his Hogwarts education. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron and Harry both skipped their final year (Hermione didn’t!) and went straight into work at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as Aurors.
19. Ron was an Auror for only two years. Then, he decided to work with his brother George at the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.
20. Ron gets his own Chocolate Frog card. Talk about achieving great things in life! The card says, “Ronald Weasley for aiding Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in destroying the Horcruxes and subsequent defeat of Voldemort. Also for revolutionizing the Ministry of Magic along with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.”
21. The Chudley Cannons are Ron’s favorite Quidditch team. His predilection for the team is one of the least-known facts about Ron Weasley. Despite the team’s glory days being long gone, Ron fiercely supported the team. His room was full of Cannons stuff, such as the blanket, and he even gave Harry a book “Flying With the Cannons” for Christmas in the second novel.
22. Ron accomplishes all of his Heart’s Desires. In the first book, Ron and Harry discover the Mirror of Erised, which, according to Dumbledore, shows the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. Ron sees himself wearing a Head Boy’s badge, and holding the Quidditch Cup, showing he also has high expectations for himself.
23. Ron is a high-level chess player. We could venture and say that Ron Weasley is likely one of the top chess players in the wizarding world. We all remember how his talent allowed the trio to pass one of the obstacles protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone; this accomplishment was praised by Dumbledore, too! I mean, that’s conclusive proof, right?
24. Ron has arachnophobia. Once again, his irrational fear of spiders is well-founded. When he was only three years old, his brother turned his teddy bear into a spider. An event traumatic enough to have lasting effects on poor Ron.
25. Ron’s Patronus is a Jack Russell terrier. He learns to conjure a Patronus in his fifth year at school, under the guidance of Harry.
26. Ron has a healthy appetite – so much that it became a joke in the movies. It doesn’t take readers or viewers too long to notice that Ron is an insatiable eater. He even claims that he “could eat a Hippogriff.” Who could blame him, though? Have you seen a Hogwarts banquet? I bet you’d be eating chicken with your hands, too.
27. Ron’s favorite type of sandwich is bacon, whereas his least favorite sandwich type is corned beef. Given his appetite, it’s no surprise that he has good taste and strong opinions about them.
28. Ron is a Chocolate Frog Card collector. His collection comprises about 500 cards, each of which highlights a famous wizard and explores their impressive life story.
29. Ron is related to Malfoy. As unfortunate as it may sound, the Malfoy’s and Weasley’s are (distantly) related. Ron’s paternal grandmother was a Black, and the Black family is related to the Malfoys through Narcissa, Draco’s mother. As a result, Ron and Draco Malfoy are third cousins, although Potterheads are still uncertain if the two wizards are aware of this.
30. Ron is also related to Sirius. As you’d expect since he has family ties to the Malfoys through the Black family, Ron is also related to Sirius; Sirius’ great aunt is Ron Weasley’s grandmother.
31. Ron loathes maroon. I think this is one of the funniest facts about Ron Wesley, especially because he can’t seem to escape having to wear clothes with that color. Despite Ron clearly stating that he absolutely detests the color maroon, his mother is oblivious to it and, without fail, always makes or buys him clothes in this color.
32. Albus Dumbledore left Ron the Deluminator in his will. And we are so glad he did! The device ultimately helped Ron find his way back to his friends after abandoning them in the Deathly Hallows.
33. Ron had two wands. Ron’s first wand once belonged to his brother Charlie Weasley. Unfortunately, the wand snapped in half after Ron and Harry crashed into the Hogwarts Whomping Willow in 1992. He tried to prolong its useful life by fixing it with Spello-tape, with no success. He bought his second wand in 1993, an Ollivander made of willow, and a core of unicorn hair.
34. Ron also has two brooms. His first broom was an old Shooting Star and the second, which he uses as Keeper, was a Cleansweep Eleven.
35. Ron’s second wand and second broom weren’t hand-me-downs. His parents gifted him the Cleansweep Eleven after becoming a Prefect; they bought him a new wand after winning the Daily Prophet Galleon Prize Draw.
36. Ron has two children with Hermione Granger. It seems he didn’t follow his parent’s steps and was content with a small family. After the Second Wizarding War, he and Hermione Granger have two kids, Rose and Hugo.
37. In addition to having many siblings, Ron has a big extended family, including 10 nieces and nephews. Bill and Fleur Delacour had three children: Victoire, Dominique, and Louis. Percy and his wife Audrey had two daughters: Molly and Lucy. George and Angelina Johnson had two children: a son named Fred and a daughter named Roxanne. Ginny and Harry also had three children: Albus, Lily, and James.
38. Sticking with the family, Ron is Harry’s son James’ godfather. Isn’t this one of the sweetest Ron Weasley facts?
39. J.K. Rowling mentions Ron a total of 5,809 times in all seven books. Yes, someone counted!
40. Ron first met Harry right before they were about to pass through the hidden entrance to Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express; this means Ron is not only Harry’s closest friend but also one of his longest friends.
41. Speaking of – and I hate pointing this out –, Ron wasn’t Harry’s first friend. In fact, he was his second as Hagrid was the first.
42. Ron was almost killed off. J.K. Rowling once said in an interview that she considered killing off Ron in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She also admitted she wasn’t in a very happy place in her life at that time.
43. Ron was always destined to be a Weasley. J.K. Rowling experimented with numerous names for her characters before settling on the ones we know today. The Weasleys were an exception, though. The author states that the name comes from her fondness for the Mustelidae family, which includes badgers, otters, and, of course, weasels. In Britain and Ireland, weasels have a bad reputation, just like the magical family of gingers.
44. Despite having two girlfriends during the course of the series (Lavender and Hermione), Ron is far from being a Casanova, but he has a few solid moves to charm witches. Apparently, Ron learned these tricks after receiving a copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches from his brothers Fred and George.
45. Ron’s self-esteem issues aren’t new to anyone. Among the insecurities stemming from it, we find he greatly feared that his mother and Hermione preferred Harry over him, just as Voldemort’s Horcrux showed. I discuss this a lot in several episodes of my podcast, The Glittering Bell Jar.
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